Natalia Partyka

Natalia Partyka of Poland serves against Mie Skov of Denmark during their Women's Singles Table Tennis match on Day 1 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at ExCeL on July 28, 2012 in London.

According to the IPC, most table tennis players use their free arm to serve and to maintain balance. Natalia Partyka, who was born without a right hand and forearm, doesn’t have that luxury. Even so the 23-year old table tennis player chases down balls with the speed and precision of the world’s best able-bodied players. She made her Paralympic debut in Sydney at the age of 11. In Athens she won a gold medal as an individual and a silver medal as part of Poland’s team. She earned another gold and silver in the same events in Beijing. Besides climbing to World No. 1 in the Paralympic rankings, she’s also broken into the top 50 among Olympic table tennis players. The mental strength required in Paralympic tennis may give her an edge over some able-bodied competitors. As she said in an interview with the International Paralympic Table Tennis Committee in 2008: “Disabled players have to think more and find a good way to win a point because many of them can’t move so fast.”